Like Nigeria like Biafra unlike Ikenga Republic -By Azuka Onwuka

1. Who coined the name Nigeria? A European. Who coined the name Biafra? Europeans (Bight of Biafra).
2. What does Nigeria mean? Nothing meaningful: Niger area. What does Biafra mean? Nothing meaningful.
3. Was Nigeria coined from an indigenous language? No. Was Biafra coined from an indigenous language? No.
4. What was Nigeria best known for? The biggest source of palm oil for the British. What was Bight of Biafra best known for? The biggest source of slaves for slave merchants all over the world.
5. Who created the space called Nigeria and merged the peoples together? The British in 1914 without consulting the peoples living within the space. Who created the space called Biafra? The European explorers created the area called Bight of Biafra. Then the British merged different peoples together to form Eastern Nigeria without discussing with any of the peoples if they wanted to live together as one. Then the British dragged them into Nigeria. And the Eastern Region adopted that name Biafra to form the Republic of Biafra in 1967.
6. How did Ghana form its name? How did Burkina Faso form its name? By discarding the European names Gold Coast and Upper Volta respectively foisted on them and adopting names from their indigenous languages “Ghana” (meaning: “warrior king”) and “Burkina Faso” (meaning: “the land of upright people)
7. The name Biafra has been associated with centuries of slavery and exploitation under the European explorers, merchants and colonialists, and also associated with the killing of children, women, and defenceless people during the 30-month war.
8. Why not create an indigenous name that resonates with the people? Why not use a name like Republic of Ikenga? What does it mean? It means the land of the brave. Ikenga is the symbol of manliness, power, courage, bravery, life, uprightness. If you destroy a man’s Ikenga, you have killed the person. If Ikenga is not good enough, any other good name will be okay.
9. Why not create a space for the Igbos alone – Where they can live in and operate freely without blaming others of marginalization or without being blamed of domination or marginalization by others? Why not create a space where Igbos can operate freely without having to apologize for their Igboness or being called too aggressive or too ambitious because they are always thinking of achieving new feats? Why move from a cantankerous space like Nigeria and move into another space of friction, distrust, quarells, compromises, regular bloodshed and no patriotism?
10. These are my honest and humble views to make our people think. They are not cast in stone. You can agree and you can disagree.

Thank you.